12 LEGISLATIVE REPORT
NEW JERSEY COPS ■ FEBRUARY 2015
State PBA remains focused on legislative agenda
Rob Nixon
While the State PBA tends to focus its communication to members on weighty topics like
pension and benefit reform and similar allhands-on-deck issues, the reality is that day-today legislative issues are always up for
discussion in Trenton. These issues require
careful attention to ensure the interests of the
law enforcement community are addressed
where necessary from the State PBA
perspective.
The State PBA is tracking 426 bills to date, slightly more
than a year into the current two- year legislative session. In
reality, only a small number of bills introduced every session
become law, but legislators repeatedly ask the State PBA
about our concerns or advice regarding what they vote on.
This communication is critical to ensure that legislators are
provided with accurate and realistic information about how
law enforcement officers do their jobs. It is often the case
that bad law comes from a lack of information or unchallenged bad information. The reality is that legislators can’t
be expected to be experts on every issue, and unless an
elected official has been an officer (and only six currently
have), they are more likely to be influenced by how an issue
is reported on by the media than by personal experience.
During the past few weeks, the State PBA has been called
in to give comments on a number of issues. We have also
been pursuing a list of priorities to move in the legislative
session as well. These include:
Assembly Bill 3826: The legislation upgrades to aggravated assault the law governing assaults on corrections officers.
Current law only considers assaults as aggravated if corrections officers are attacked while in the actual performance
of their duties. This bill would establish parity under the law
between local police and corrections officers. The bill is
awaiting a final vote in the General Assembly.
Senate Bill 2689: The legislation prohibits firing an officer
as “unfit for duty” who has been injured in the line of duty
and who is awaiting retirement. The legislation was discovered to be necessary following multiple incidents of officers
being fired or facing termination, despite the fact they still
possessed sick leave and workers comp options. The bill,
drafted by the State PBA, was released by the Senate Law
and Public Safety Committee in January.
Assembly Bill 4081: The bill clarifies that a law enforcement officer who knowingly chokes another person engages
in the use of deadly force. The bill, a reaction to the Staten
Island case, states that a law enforcement officer is not justified in choking another person unless confronted with a
need to use deadly force. The State PBA has expressed concern with the sponsor about the interpretation of the bill,
which he has agreed to address if the bill moves forward.
Assembly Bill 4099: The bill extends authorization to all
county sheriffs to appoint Class II special law enforcement
officers to perform court security assignments. The State
PBA strongly opposes the legislation, since sheri